Welsh children have less tooth decay than last year

06-02-2015

Fri

According to the Welsh Government and Cardiff University, children between the ages of three and six in the country have seen a marked reduction in tooth decay, with almost 60% of this age group taking part in the Designed to Smile programme last year. The initiative was set up to help reduce levels of dental caries and encourage children to get involved in tooth brushing activities at home.

A total of 1,452 schools and 91,000 Welsh children attended education sessions focusing on nutrition and healthy diets, as well as dental hygiene. Although it has only been a year since the start of the initiative, the latest projections estimate that there has been a 6% drop in the number of five-year-olds experiencing dental decay compared to the same period last year.

Chief dental officer David Thomas said that this was ‘encouraging progress’ and added that ‘across all social groups dental disease levels in children are decreasing… Crucially we are seeing fewer children experiencing decay – not just a reduction in the number of teeth affected among those children with tooth decay.’

The Welsh Government has invested 12m in the Designed to Smile project after it was launched in 2009. Cardiff University reports that there has been a steady increase in the number of schools that have agreed to take part in the initiative to improve the dental health of infants and children in Wales.